Timberland Serv-a-palooza helps Monarch School of New England

ROCHESTER — On any normal school day at eight o'clock in the morning, you see only buses with students pull into the driveway at the Monarch School of New England, off Eastern Avenue.

But on Thursday, Sept. 20, over 75 people from Timberland and the Newmarket Girls Soccer Team, volunteered their skills and time for Serv-a-palooza. It brought a whole new energy to the day.

From eight in the morning to around three in the afternoon, volunteers built and completed a 36-foot long ADA compliant footbridge to a playground; a back bridge to a playground as a second access; elements within the playground itself including an octagon tower and music wall; an outdoor classroom with a weather station; and three fitness stations along the school's nature trail to include a balance beam, and places to do sit-ups and pull-ups.

Brianne Wood, community service manager for Timberland LLC, said this project has been developing for over a year. Ken Plourde, human resource director at the Monarch School pitched the idea to her for Earth Day, 2011. The vision was for a playground — and the project has since blossomed as the needs of the school have also grown and changed.

According to Wood, to be considered for Serv-a-palooza, projects must meet several criteria. There must be a strong tie to the community; there must be a critical need; there must be passion and desire on the part of the organization; and at the end of the day, volunteers need to be able to see a "visible transformation" after all their work.

This set the stage for Serv-a-palooza's involvement at the school.

The Monarch School of New England is a day school for students with significant disabilities, ages 5 to 21. Diane Bessey, the school's executive director, says that "the playground has been a dream for a long time. Our population has changed over the years and we need room for our kiddos to move."

That's just what Timberland needed to hear.

The before and after has been remarkable.

Timberland project directors Bonnie Hatch and Vaughan Morgan have worked hard to make all this happen. Coordinating the resources and staff needed to keep over 75 people happy, involved and working hard is no easy task, but the results have been visible and impressive, making both Timberland and the Monarch School of New England, happy.

For kiddos at the school, recreation is the work of a child and according to Bessey, it's a lifelong skill that Monarch can help them develop within the confines of what they can do.

"Timberland has given us an amazing gift in what they have built for our students and school; words cannot really say how much this means to us. We could never have done this without them," she said.

This is good news for Timberland as they celebrate their 20th anniversary of the Path of Service program, which is in place to provide community service to their neighbors.